1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of marine seismic surveying methods and apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for improved steering of seismic streamers.
2. Related Art
Marine seismic exploration investigates and maps the structure and character of subsurface geological formations underlying a body of water. For large survey areas, seismic vessels tow one or more seismic sources and multiple seismic streamer cables through the water. The seismic sources typically comprise compressed air guns for generating acoustic pulses in the water. The energy from these pulses propagates downwardly into the geological formations and is reflected upwardly from the interfaces between subsurface geological formations. The reflected energy is sensed with hydrophones and perhaps other sensors attached to or integral with the seismic streamers, and data representing such energy is recorded and processed to provide information about the underlying geological features. The streamers may be positioned using steerable birds, deflectors, steerable buoys, and the like.
Previous attempts have not provided optimal acquisition of marine seismic data. While some techniques are improvements in the art, further improvement is desired.